Every 4 years Mid-America Council hosts a Boy Scout Jubilee.  This year it was called Scout Stock and was held at Mahoney State Park.  The Troop spent the day at Scout Stock and had a great time.  There was a lot to see and do; Civil War reenactments, rock climbing walls, about a dozen of those jumpy things for the Cubs and much more.  The evening was full of acts including the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The evening's acts were emceed by JD Anthony from KGBI 100.7 FM radio.  

Photos from Scout Stock have been posted in the Photo Gallery.  
 

Scouts were invited to spend the afternoon at Vala's Pumpkin Patch after selling popcorn on Blitz Day. Mr. & Mrs. Auch and some Scouts in Troop 412 helped feed Soaring Eagle district with hot dogs, chips and drinks. 
 

Photos from the Vala's Blitz Day have been posted in the Photo Gallery.  
 

This September the Troop once again camped at Camp Cedars. We were there in June for Summer Camp but the weather and activities were much different for September. We enjoyed the last few warm days of Indian Summer and rented canoes and fished for the late season blue gill. On the last day of the camp out the Scouts honed their orienteering skills with a mini compass course.  The camp fee was covered by a service project to take down many of the tents at Camp Cedars.

Photos from the September Camp Out have been posted in the Photo Gallery.  
 

Josh's Eagle Project

At the end of August 2007 Josh coordinated Troop 412 to clean up Temple Israel Cemetery. He also identified 3 Eagle Scouts buried at the cemetery and decorated their grave sites with special Eagle markers.  The Troop cleaned grave sites, worked on the landscaping and planted new grass.

Photos from the Josh's Eagle Project have been posted in the Photo Gallery.  
 

August 2007 Campout and Court of Honor

Roger Elliot, driver of Saturday's Eagle Raceway competition, brings his race car to the Troop Meeting for the Scouts to sign. The Scouts camp out at Eagle Raceway for the Aug Campout.  More pictures.
 

Troop 412 proudly displays our very first Troop flag at the August Court of Honor.  The flag was purchased from the proceeds of the Spring fundraiser in front of Canfield's Sporting Goods.  Pictures of the Court of Honor have been posted here.

July 2007 Campout - Wilson Island

The Troop spent our July Campout at Wilson Island State Park in Iowa.  The theme of this campout was Leadership.  The adult leaders featured classes in Scouting, Scout Spirit, Campout Planning Back Packing,  and Orienteering.

Photos from the campout have been posted the Photo Gallery.  

Summer Camp 2007

Troop 412 spent summer camp at Camp Cedars in June 2007.  It was cooler this year from the previous year.  About twice the number of Scouts attended camp this year from last.  The Troop received an Honor Troop ribbon for this years summer camp that will be placed on the new Troop flag.  The Scouts earned 35 merit badges during summer camp.

The first batch of pictures from summer camp are posted in the Photo Gallery.  More may be uploaded later as they are submitted.

Spring Activities

May 2007 Campout
May's Troop campout was a Wilderness Survival Campout. The Troop camped at Hitchcock Nature Center near Crescent Iowa and camped in primitive conditions. The Scouts earned their Wilderness Survival Merit Badge on this campout. The Scouts hiked in and out with all their gear in their backpacks. No tents were used - the Scouts made their own shelters with ponchos, tarps or natural materials.  Pictures of this event can be found in the Photo Gallery.
 

May 2007 Court of Honor
May's Court of Honor features many advancements and Merit Badges for Troops 218 and 412.  Five Scouts advanced to Tenderfoot, one Scout advanced to 2nd Class, one Scout advanced to 1st Class, and one Scout advanced to Life.  A Silver Palm and Interpreter Strip was awarded to Junior Assistant Scoutmaster Josh G (Eagle Scout). Many other merit badges and Quality Unit patches were awarded that evening.  The ceremony was planned and conducted by Scouts Andrew M and Andrew P as a requirement for their communication merit badge.  Pictures of this event can be found in the Photo Gallery here and here.
 

Spring 2007 Camporee
The Soaring Eagle Spring Camporee was at Camp Cedars this April.  The Troop had assigned a beautiful spot right off of the parking lot.  It was a wonderful opportunity to wind tunnel test our tents.  The patrol challenges at this year's Camporee included Orienteering, "Cross the Moat", a blind maze, friction bridge building, a biathlon.  Pictures of this event can be found in the Photo Gallery.
 

Thank You for Your Support!
The Troop has a problem.  We need a Troop Flag, our tents have holes, and our Troop trailer needs an upgrade.  In order to build up the Troop fund the Scouts arranged a popcorn and candy fundraiser in front of Canfield's Sporting Goods store.  Thank you to all those who stopped by and contributed to the cause.  We'll be able to a Troop Flag at this year's summer camp and a few more functional tents.  A special thanks to Rick at Canfield's who allowed us to "campout" in front of the store.  Pictures of this event can be found in the Photo Gallery.
 

March 2007 Campout

This March Troops 218 and 412 camped at Louisville State Recreation Area.  The park was in "Winter Mode" which meant no running water whatsoever.  No water for showers, drinking or dish cleanup.  Alex and Bryson the two new Scouts of Troop 412 selected our campsite in order to meet one of the Tenderfoot requirements.  The weather dipped bellow 30 degrees each night which was one of the requirements for the Scouts to earn their Polar Bear Patch.

 

The Scouts had a 5 mile hike which was required for some for 2nd Class and 1st Class advancement.  The Troops gelled together nicely and even had several spontaneous games of football.

Pictures from the campout can be found in Photo Gallery

What is a Funapalooza?  The "Funapalooza" is a fun campout planned to reward Scouts that have advanced in rank or have earned merit badges.  This is the only campout that electronics are allowed! Scouts were able to bring their favorite electronic games and the leaders cooked all the meals.  Troops 218 and 412 stayed in the cabins at Camp Eagle.  This was a good thing because the temperatures on Saturday and Sunday only got up to 10 degrees!  There are not one, but two sets of photos in the Photo Gallery of the Funapalooza.

The Scouts also had a great time sledding and snowboarding around Camp Eagle.  Camp Eagle is typically a Cub Scout camp in the summer time but the cabins are available for rental to anyone during the winter.  Some of the Scouts that remembered their Cub Scout Summer Camp in previous summers tried to find "Dead Man's Hill".  They weren't able to locate it but they had fun trying to find it.

Troop 412 had the opportunity to camp out at Camp Luther this September and perform some service projects around the Outpost Camp Site.  Camp Luther is located about 1 hour west of Omaha in Schuyler Nebraska.  Here are some directions to Camp Luther.  Here is a layout of the camp itself.  (These are in Adobe PDF format.)  You can see on the map the Outpost Campsite where we will be staying.  It is located on the Northwest side of Camp Luther.  The Outpost Campsite is set apart from the rest of Camp Luther's retreat cabins and facilities.  The campsite has water, electricity, bathhouse, and fire rings.  The bathhouse has separate men's and women's facilities with hot running water.  Camp Luther's website can be found at www.campluther.org.

One of the service projects was to enhance the fire ring at the Outpost Camp Site

This is a picture of the fire ring before the service project.

Click for a larger view

This is a picture of the fire ring after the service project.

Click for a larger view

On August 21st 2006, Troop 412 held it's first Court of Honor at Zion Lutheran Church.  Four Scouts advanced to the Scout rank, 21 merit badges were earned along with several Fireman Chits and Totin' Chips.  In attendance where special guests Scout Executive/President  Lloyd Rottstein, Council Commissioner Dan Hunt, and District Commissioner Steve Lanni.

Pictures are now available in the Photo Gallery.

Troop 412 spent our first summer camp at Camp Cedars near Freemont Nebraska.  The weather was hot but everyone kept hydrated and spent as much time in the camp pool as possible.  The Scouts learned a lot and had a great time at camp.  The Troop earned 21 merit badges while at camp.

Pictures are now available in the Photo Gallery.

The June campout was at Wilson Island State Park in Iowa.  The Troop saw a fair amount of rain, both on Saturday morning and again later in the afternoon.  We got a chance to try out our wet weather gear.

Pictures are now available in the Photo Gallery.